George Clooney x 2

A George Clooney double feature today!

Ryan Bingham's character in 'Up In the Air' is "very tricky," as director Jason Reitman admits.  "He is someone who fires people for a living but he still needs to be likable and charming."  Who better to cast than George Clooney?  Ryan says : "I work for a company that rents me out to cowards that don't have the courage to sack their own employees"... Clooney is the perfect choice to deliver these kind of lines.  He brings great depth and vulnerability to the deceptively shallow character. He really deserves an Oscar for this performance.

Later in the day I saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox, directed by Wes Anderson, based on a Roald Dahl novel, and also featuring George Clooney.  The animation is a beautiful rendering of another deceptively simple story, this one about trying to tame animal instincts.

Clooney does seem to play different facets of the same 'type'.  Think of Michael Clayton or the lead in 'O Brother Where Art Thou'.  Shallow and vain, yet somehow on the cusp on awakening.  Even less serious roles like Batman or Danny Ocean have an unexpected depth.

Here are a few You Tube clips that are pretty hilarious.  The first is a vlog he did of himself in Chad talking about rooming with Pulitzer Prize winner Nicolas Kristof; the second is of him being interviewed by his Dad for the premiere of Leatherheads in his home town.